The City’s Licensing Committee will be discussing the City of Toronto MRAB (Multi-Residential Apartment Buildings) program at its meeting on Friday November 16th, 2012.

This meeting is an opportunity for tenants and tenant groups to participate in the discussion about the effectiveness of the property standards by-law and whether or not the by-law is properly enforced. Tenants need know whether the current system works and if it has been meeting the regulations of the property standards by-law. Outstanding repairs and maintenance issues have a negative impact on the quality of life of tenants and also violate the property standards by-law. Is the property standards by-law being enforced in a way that ensures ‘proper repairs and maintenance’in their buildings? How is the MRAB program being monitored? Have there been changes to the MRAB program and have these changes been made public? Tenants need to know whether or not this MRAB program is working well and if property standards are being enforced.

Tenants can participate in the discussion to take place on Friday November 16th, 2012.

The tenants of 390 Dawes Road (a METCAP managed building) are without adequate heating for yet another winter.

Our sources tell us that the radiators give off faint warmth but nothing that would produce the “minimum air temperature of 21 degrees Celsius is maintained in all areas of the dwelling unit from the 15th day of September in each year to the 1st day of June in the following year” required by the City’s bylaw on apartment temperature.

Tenants have been complaining about the lack of heating to the City’s Municipal Licensing and Standards and Health departments but so far have not seen the situation get better.

Bed bugs appear to be a growing problem in Toronto, and yes, in our beloved East York, too.

Toronto Public Health notes an increase in calls about bed bugs: 800 calls between January and May 2007 compared to 197 calls in 2005.

Pest control companies have also recorded an increase in the number of bed bug cases they encounter. Their anecdotal evidence seems to point to the bed bug problem only starting to impact Toronto in the late 1990s.

Bed bugs don’t ask whether their human prey are renters or owners, living in an apartment or house, but the infestations can be harder on tenants than on other residents.

The proximity of living spaces in an apartment building or shared house can make it more likely for bed bugs to spread from one unit to another. On top of this,renters may get little response from their landlordwhen they raise the issue of bedbugs and many just cannot afford to buy new clothing or furniture to replace ones infested with the bugs or to move to get away from bed bug infestations.

Witness the case of Megan, an East York tenant:

‘Megan Basten and her boyfriend had been scratching what they thought were mosquito bites for at least a week before they (more…)

On the morning of July 20, 2008, a massive explosion in the basement electrical room of 22-storey, 2 Secord Avenue and subsequent fire, forced the 900 residents of the apartment building from their homes.

Thick smoke traveled up from the basement, through the elevator shaft and ventilation system, blackening surfaces throughout the building with soot and forcing the immediate evacuation of the residents. Many left the building with only the clothing on their backs.

The 2 Secord tenants spent 40 days living in emergency accomodations: bunking either with family and friends or in hotel rooms provided by the (more…)